A preferred embodiment of an instrument according to the present invention is particularly suitable for surgical procedures including laparoscopic and open surgery.
Conventional suturing techniques have given way to the use of surgical clips applied at the junction of vessels or tissue parts to be joined where the clips perform a holding action akin to that of sutures. Hemostatic clips are used for tying off bleeding blood vessels in surgery and in traumatic medical intervention. Here a clip applier with opposed jaws crimps (or flattens) a U-shape clip over a blood vessel to close its lumen. These clips are also used to close other fluid ducts during surgery.
Jaws and cam pusher bars are conventional elements of clip applying medical instruments and typically function as follows: The cam bar pushes distally against outer ramps disposed on both sides of the fixedly mounted jaws urging them to come together and close a malleable hemostatic clip stationed between the jaws thereby ceasing fluid flow through the clip surrounded vein. The jaw is fork shaped having flexible leg portions supporting the distal jaw tips and acting as biasing means for returning the jaw tips to the open position when stroke is complete. Some disadvantages of this arrangement are:                1. A stroke reversing mechanism is needed to coordinate the clip feeding and jaw closing cycle in a single stroke necessitating increased mechanical complexity.        2. Excessive jaw width is needed to compensate for ramp height. This expands the width of the opening the instrument can access.        
Though the jaw width issue is not addressed in the following Blake patent references, U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,079; U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,435; and US applications No. 2013/0165951; and Ser. No. 13/987,017, these Blake patents and applications reflect elimination of the disadvantageous stroke reversing mechanism.